I updated my last post by getting a better link to Mr Bean in church video the last would not open from outside the original site.
Category Archives: Loose thoughts and musings
Loose Thoughts: Can Somebody Tell Me What Sleep is and Why the Old Crap? Why not New Crap?
Mr Bean Trying to Stay Awake in Church. I can Really Relate See the video at
Tuesday and Wednesday were days where the old Crap both my own life and others kept rising to the top. My current and crap, which in reality is my old crap move to the present are my PTSD related issues or maybe it’s the whole damned subscription. My stuff came up, because as Elmer the Shrink says that they have been suppressed by my brain and get dredged up by stuff that triggers them. Thus it is kind of involuntary, something that I hate. I am a deliberate and logical person and I don’t like this stuff coming up and screwing with my life, which right now is pretty busy and stressful.
Tuesday night I had the “privilege” of getting two and a half hours of sleep after a great seminar on Caregiver Operational Stress management and intervention. I was proud of myself. I actually got through an entire daylong seminar without an immediate PTSD meltdown during the seminar. That last three times I have attended classes or seminars dealing with things related to or that touch on my stuff it has been like a old pitcher who has seen better days getting chased from the mound at Yankee Stadium in the first inning giving up 7 runs without recording an out. Tuesday it was hard but it was like getting a complete game and the win. This was a big accomplishment for me as I have not been able to do this since before I went to Iraq. However, the subject matter did kick up a bunch of my stuff from Iraq and getting to sleep was really; I mean really fun….not. To use the old pitcher metaphor I may have got the win but my arm and body need some time to recover, only instead of the arm and body it is by pea-brain. So Tuesday I didn’t get to bed until 2:30 AM and was back up at 5:00 AM so I could come to work and take the duty for the house in addition to my regular duties.
Now I don’t mind having duty, especially at night when I get a chance to round through our hospital wards and spend time with staff, especially the folks in the various ICUs and units that are not part of my daily routine. Yesterday I had a couple of meetings today, a long one in the morning and a couple in the afternoon. The last meeting was like one of those afternoon classes that I dreaded back in college and seminary; the kind that I took because I was either working or wanted to sleep late, but which kicked my ass. One time in seminary the “Z Monster” grabbed me after eating a big burger at lunch before going to class. That afternoon in Philosophy of Religion the Professor, Dr. Yandall Woodfin, decided to enlighten us with a slide show of various art masterpieces and the religious and or philosophical meanings that could be ascribed to them, I think there were several slide trays of them as this was in the technological dark ages before Power Point poisoning. I was sitting in the front row, my desk almost under Dr. Woodfin’s nose just slightly to the left of the slide carousel. The lights were turned low so we could see the pictures better and the temperature was just warm enough in the classroom to make me even more sleepy. As all the blood in my body rushed from my brain to my burger locker I began to struggle to stay awake. It was like Mr. Bean trying to stay awake in church http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7178785146631188901&ei=UthpSvKcCpv-qAOCyJAd&q=mr+bean+in+church&hl=en I was fighting hard but the “Z Monster” won. I was doing the “bob, jerk and sleep” for about 20 minutes when finally catastrophe hit. I flipped my desk; it was a rollover accident without a roll bar, but it was amazing that I did not hurt myself and just how fast I recovered. I had that desk righted and had my ass back in it before anyone knew what hit them. My fellow students tried to restrain their laughter as the unflappable Dr Woodfin kept the lecture going without missing a beat. I don’t know if it was years of training or the fact that he was in his “teaching zone” but his focus was amazing as he showed absolutely no distraction by my roll over.
I had similar experiences in other academic and military settings, but while I may have fallen out of my seat I never again flipped a desk. However today was tough. I had been pumping myself with caffeine all day long and evidently it was not having the desired effect. I got to the NOD (Nurse of the Day) meeting where the on call people meet with representatives of the nursing units to get an idea what is going on in the hospital at large. Today I took my seat and the “Z Monster” showed his well disguised face and zapped me. Pretty soon I was fighting to stay awake. I was pinching myself, shrugging my shoulders, sucking down my Coke Zero just to stay awake, a couple of times I caught myself about to fall forward in my chair, thankfully I didn’t snore…yes I have done that in meetings or classes too. When the meeting ended I was more than happy. I slowly rose from my chair, shook myself out and downed the last of my Coke Zero. When I got back onto the ICU I got second wind and was good the rest of the evening, made all of my rounds and finally feeling that things were okay for the night trundled off to the chaplain call room to try to sleep. I got in the bed, pulled the threadbare hospital sheets and too small blankets over me, arranged the flat pillows so they resembled a real pillow turned off the lights and close my eyes. Unfortunately though my body was toast my brain did not want to turn off, it was like the brain had a mind of its own and was going to keep my body up even though my body was saying “Oh God let me sleep.” I was so tired that I couldn’t even write myself to sleep like I normally do. Even my entreaties to the Deity Herself seemed to go unanswered, so a laid there, turned on the television and surfed the paltry selection of channels that Mordoc the Preventer of Information contracted to get finally flipping between late night talk show hosts on the major networks other than Conan O’Brien I didn’t know who the majority of these guys were, one of them who followed Conan started kissing the camera in the middle of his monologue. I rapidly changed channel as that was frightening. Finally about 2:30, which must be the new 11:30 for me, I drifted off to sleep to be awakened by the 0600 test of our Code Blue response pager. I did my duty turnover, pumped myself full of caffeine checked on the ICU and PICU, visited some patients, consulted the staff, answered some hot e-mail and calls regarding our incoming Pastoral Care Residents and realized that my body was starting to tell me that I was done. I trudged down to our main office, sat down with the boss who asked why I was still at work, discussed a couple of issues with him and got sent home where I kissed Judy, pet the dog and threw my ass in bed. I feel slightly more human now and pray that the sleep I got this afternoon does not mess up going to sleep tonight.
While thinking about how my old crap was exhumed by the class, something that Elmer the Shrink says that my brain has been suppressing, I got an e-mail from a pastor who has syndicated opinion column for a number of newspapers here in the USA. The guy used to write some pretty good stuff that was encouraging, inspiring and occasionally thought provoking. But something has changed and his articles have become often become almost venomous. I guess that he’s really angry about something, probably Obama and the Democrats. I understand that that is his right as a citizen, there are a lot of people unhappy with the President and Congress, my mother is one of them. I talk to my mother almost daily almost and for eight years she bitched about Bush and the Republicans and now she is bitching about Obama and the Democrats, but she represents herself, she is not a pastor, she holds no church or public office and thus can do whatever she wants.
Anyway this pastor chose to write an article full of anger and poisonous invective, but not at anything happening now. He chose to dig up old crap with no relevance to the Gospel, or to anything that is happening now. He chose to write about a doctoral seminar that he attended several years ago. He discussed a situation where a non-US citizen pastor of an American church in a graduate program was criticizing the USA as a major source of the world’s problems. Now I might take offense if someone did that, I would defend my country and I might depending on the situation confront him during or after the class. However, this chose to drag this up when it seems totally irrelevant to anything going on now. I really don’t think that anyone is concerned about how a foreign pastor pissed this minister off years ago. People are scarred spitless of the Commie North Koreans, Iranian nukes, Pakistani nukes, the expanding war in Afghanistan, the price of gas, the economy and a hundred other very real crisis’s. But this pastor decided to tell how a long time ago he responded in a class to a guy who dared to criticize the USA. But this wasn’t the worst of it, this guy ended the column with a particularly acidic comment that was like cup of “America Love it or Leave It” with a shot of Drano. There was no redemptive point to the article; there was no humor, no spiritual lesson, just a very angry and bitter screed about something that happened in a classroom among a bunch of doctoral students which happened four years ago at the height of the insurgency in Iraq. I did not think that the article was befitting of him and hope that his ministry is not filled with stuff like this as it is poison. Like Drano it will clean you out, but it will leave you empty inside. If this were an isolated occurrence with this pastor I would chalk it up to him having a bad day, but he is trending this way and I’m afraid that if he continues to do so he will hurt his church and the broader Christian church by becoming identified more with a political message than his faith. In fairness I don’t know what caused him to write the article, maybe something triggered him and caused this to kick in. I do want to be fair to him. I do plan on discussing the matter with him because I actually do care.
Now I’m sure that there are people who think that I’m full of crap too, and I’m okay with that, because I know that I have issues and rough edges and sometimes push the envelope. At the same time I do try to find a point of contact in the present and write, even when I am critical of a person or institution. I do not believe that anyone or any institution is totally bad or good, even people that I disagree with are like broken clocks, they are right twice a day.
I hope to sleep tonight and I hope none of my old Crap or anyone else’s old Crap shows up tonight. Unfortunately Crap tedns to rise to the surface.
Peace, Steve+
Filed under iraq,afghanistan, leadership, Loose thoughts and musings, philosophy, PTSD, Religion
Special Prayer Requst
A former patient at my hospital named Don went to a transplant center for a shot at a lung transplant. He’s a relatively young retired Navy guy and like me a Tides fan and Gordon Biersch Regular. He asked me to let readers of my blog know to pray for him. Peace and Blessings, Steve+
Filed under Loose thoughts and musings
Roster Moves: No Game, Series or Season in Baseball or Life Goes Without Them
Norfolk Tides Manager Gary Allenson making a Slight Adjustment to the Outfield with 1 Out in the 9th Inning
Larry: Who’s this? Who are you?
Crash Davis: I’m the player to be named later.
From Bull Durham
Sometimes I feel like the player to be named later. I am amazed at the changes on a baseball team’s roster during the course of a season. At the same time being in the military for almost 28 years I have some understanding of them in daily life. This season with the Norfolk Tides and my place of work at a Major Naval Medical Center has been a perfect example of how no roster survives intact.
Now this is nothing new, as long as there have been baseball teams and militaries there have been personnel changes. In baseball as in the military there is constant moves of personnel as people are transferred, promoted, demoted, are injured or retire from either the service or the game. Sometimes roster moves are part of a natural process as an organization decides how it wants to chart its future. Other times they are dictated by a need that occurs that has not been anticipated such as injuries, trades, transfers, retirements or personnel or budget constraints, either expected or unexpected.
In the Minor Leagues the Minor League affiliates exist to supply their Major League organization with young talent, player development, rehabilitation and depth to meet the demands of a long season. It is similar in the military where support and training organizations exist to meet the needs of the operating forces. This is true regardless of military branch of service. When the Major League Team or the operating forces are stretched, experience losses or suffer setbacks it is common for them to draw upon the support and training organizations to fill the holes and meet the needs of the larger organization.
I have watched this close up in two worlds this year both where I work and where I watch the Tides play ball. At work this has occurred where due to retirements and transfers our department has lost a lot of people who have not yet been replaced, creating a lot of pressure on those who remain, likewise we are tasked with more missions to support the operating forces. The same is true of the rest of the Medical Center where many physicians, nurses, corpsmen and other sailors have been deployed to meet the demands of the expanding war in Afghanistan while still supporting other worldwide commitments and our own home town mission. While this is going on other needs have come up in caring for returning warriors, wounded warriors and their families as well as the rest of the military community that depends on us for their primary and specialized medical care. I have seen more colleagues and friends than I can count be deployed from what is supposedly a pretty safe “non-deploying” shore billet to support the operating forces, Navy, Marines and Joint or NATO. I have watched the organization adapt to the call ups by moving people around as well as finding people to fill the void, even if they are only on contract.
Our Norfolk Tides began the season with a very solid roster and within two months the big club, the Baltimore Orioles had called up several pitchers as well as the heart of the batting order, Outfielder Nolan Reimold, Catcher Matt Wieters and Infielder Oscar Salazar. Meanwhile the Tides lost several players to injuries which forced Manager Gary Allenson and the Orioles organization to fins personnel both within and outside of the organization to fill the gaps created by call ups to the big team and injuries. To do this they brought up players from AA Bowie, moved players down from Baltimore and found and traded for players outside of the Orioles system. At first the adjustment was difficult but now the new players and those who were left are coming together to keep the team, at least for now in first place in the International League South. Yet with every move the organization has to decide how to best utilize the players that it has. In the case of the Tides this comes down to Manager Gary Allenson and his coaches working together with the rest of the Orioles organization.
Even in the midst of a game there are roster changes, sometimes for pitchers, sometimes hitter and sometimes even for running or defense. Some of the changes are for injuries, or situational based on statistics of what you have empirical evidence to show that one course of action is better than another. Thus you have relief pitchers and pinch hitters or runners. No at bat or even pitch is the same, which is like life, nothing remains the same so you must make the adjustments on every play.
At the personal level changes affects everyone in the organization even if their job in the organization does not change. At the minimum the changes affect the dynamics of the work environment, the chemistry between teams and the concern for friends who have left the organization with whom we have invested significant amounts of time and emotional energy. Thus when Oscar Salazar was called up by Baltimore it left a huge hole in the team because Salazar was not only a leading contributor on the field but his tremendously positive attitude off the field in energizing the team and working with younger players. Individual losses while seemingly statistically insignificant can be magnified by the intangibles of what a person brings to the team. Some who seem to have all the right stuff may not be missed, while others who maybe don’t have the same talent level as others might be more sorely missed. Since a team depends on the efforts of everyone, especially in baseball where the game is both immensely individual and absolutely interdependent personnel changes must be weighed carefully in the overall mission of the team or organization. The Tides are fortunate to be with Baltimore as the organization is not only scouting talent for the O’s but their Minor League affiliates. I met a Baltimore Scout at a Tides game over the weekend who said they were out seeking hitters for Norfolk due to call ups to the O’s and injuries to members of the Tides. The larger organization, though a work in progress recognizes that its future lies in its Minor League system. Thus over the past couple of weeks they have picked up Michael Aubrey from the Cleveland organization and Victor Diaz, a former Tides Outfielder when they were in the Mets organization and who later played in New York, Texas and the Houston organization before playing with the Hanwha Eagles in South Korea before being signed by the Orioles and assisted to the Tides. A good organization not only looks to the situation they are currently facing u to the future. A bad organization does not plan for the future but only concentrates on the present. In the case of the Tides we are prospering under Baltimore but suffered for almost 20 years under the Mets, who have continued to neglect and abuse their farm system, especially their AAA affiliates. The fans in Buffalo despise the relationship.
On the personal level this also means that individuals can be moved around to meet the needs of the organization. This does not always make players happy be they ball players or military personnel. There have been times in my career that I did not like what was happening to me in the organization, not so in the Navy but definitely in hte first part of my Army career. Such unhappiness when left unchecked can lead to blow ups. The movie Bull Durham has a great example where Crash Davis, played by Kevin Costner complains about his reassignment from an AAA team back to a single A team.
Crash Davis: You don’t want a ballplayer; you want a stable pony.
Skip: Nah.
Crash Davis: Well, my triple-A contract gets bought out so I can hold some flavor-of-the-month’s dick in the bus leagues, is that it? Well, f— this f—ing game!
[pause]
Crash Davis: I quit, all right? I f—ing quit.
[Crash exits the office and stands in the clubhouse for a minute before sticking his head back through the door]
Crash Davis: Who we play tomorrow?
Skip: Winston-Salem. Batting practice at 11:30.
I cannot say that in my Navy career I have ever felt like Crash Davis, in fact I have even when doing a lot of “relief” work and been moved around sometimes faster than I wanted to be because I was needed to put out a fire. At the same time I have always been dealt with well. I have not been sent back down in the organization, but have been moved up or laterally to do different jobs, like I said often on short notice like the time when two different chaplains were fired and I went from one job to the next and ended up nine or ten weeks at 29 Palms prior to a 7 month deployment in two different battalions. Those were stressful, but not bad and the organization treated me well. Some people don’t have that experience however and roster moves on short notice can be a source of consternation, anger and discord if not handled well by the team manager or the command.
However I did come into the Navy at a lower rank than I left the Army in 1999 just to get back in the show that was the cost of getting back in the game full time, something I am amazed that I got the chance to do and every grateful to the Navy, my Bishop and the Deity Herself. In my current billet I love what I do and who I do it with, but the organization will be making some changes as we graduate our current residents, gain new residents, gain and lose other personnel and adjust to meet an ever changing and increasing mission. While we do this we seek to set the standard of professional competency not only in the Navy but the civilian world. For me this will involve changes, changes that on one level I resist, but on another level completely understand and agree with as the way to help the organization move forward. Come September those changes will be made. I can say that I don’t feel like Crash because this involves things that I have always wanted to do but unless I am adaptable will not be able to do, unless the Deity Herself creates a couple extra days to the week and makes every day a 32 hour day. Thus I will adjust as will the rest of the organization as we collectively work together to ensure that we are taking care of those that God has given us.
So far as the story goes tonight, the one constant in the season is change, teamwork and adjustment to change. As Sparky Anderson once said “If a team is in a positive frame of mind, it will have a good attitude. If it has a good attitude, it will make a commitment to playing the game right. If it plays the game right, it will win—unless, of course, it doesn’t have enough talent to win, and no manager can make goose-liver pate out of goose feathers, so why worry?” Thankfully, our leadership seems to be rising to the task and and we have the talent, so why worry?
Peace, Steve+
Filed under Baseball, leadership, Loose thoughts and musings, Military, philosophy
Three Run Home Run off the bat of Jeff Fiorentino
I got a great picture tonight, the first time I have actually caught a ball coming off the bat for a home run. This was courtesy of Jeff Fiorentino of the Norfolk Tides who went yard in a big way with a 3 run blast in the 2nd inning at Harbor Park against the Charlotte Knights. The Tides won the game 8-5. As Earl Weaver once said “The key to winning baseball games is pitching, fundamentals, and three run homers.” Last night is was pitching and tonight that home run. 
Filed under Loose thoughts and musings
Killing off the Undead Tooth of Terror
Yesterday I Might have taken these Guy’s Offer
The battle was brutal. Yesterday the Undead Tooth of Terror held me in its grip more tightly than any time in the past several days. Judy drove us home from West Virginia and last night as soon as we got back I was met by the on-call dentist and oral surgeon. They bought me some relief for the night but I still didn’t sleep much having been tanked up on caffeine just to make it through the trip, the whole yin and yang of uppers and downers together. This morning I got up and went in to work, my tooth and mouth in a bit of pain but not the 10.5 to 12.9 on the scale of 10 that I had yesterday. The Undead Tooth of Terror may have been down but he was not yet out.
I met the dentist from last night as well as the Oral Surgeon who is the department head. The people at the desk had no clue that I was coming in and were trying to figure things out by calling to the back when the dentist from last night came out, told them exactly what the plan was and had them check me in. I was sent to wait and waiting 5 minutes a nurse came out the get me and ushered me into the oral surgery pavilion. Now you might wonder what difference there is in this and a normal dentist chair and treatment room. So let me tell you. I work at a large teaching hospital and this includes the Dental Department. In fact the dentist who worked on me last night was a first year resident by you would not have known by how well he did and how considerate he was of any possible pain or discomfort that I might experience. Anyway, back to the pavilion. It is large with a number of oral surgery suites. In the suite sits a dental chair. Not just any chair but one that looks like a first class airline seat and much more comfortable than a standard dental chair. The arms were a bit different as they had straps to hold down your arms as well as an IV line for the times they put someone to sleep when doing the surgery. It looked like it could have been like a set up for prison lethal injection room. I guess if we move to a Soylent Green end of life deal these would be in your neighborhood. Since I had no need of lethal injection or for that matter being put to sleep for the procedure these meant nothing to me. However when I have my implant they will do this. The rest of the room has a good amount of equipment not seen in a normal dentist treatment room.
I got in the chair and they went through the checklist to make sure that I was me and want procedure was being done. I was read the consent form which asked of potential complications of the surgery. These were interesting, thankfully I did not expect complications although because the tooth was so weak there was a strong possibility that it could shatter and would have to be cut out. Preliminaries completed I was given a topical anesthetic followed by about four or five shots into the right side of my mouth, which because of the local I did not feel. Then they went to work. I couldn’t see anything but could hear and feel, albeit without pain what they were doing. Things didn’t take too long, maybe 20 minutes to remove the tooth if that. It had come out in several pieces as they suspected, but thankfully the roots were straight and they didn’t have to do any real gymnastics to get it out. I looked at the damned thing which was in several pieces on the small instrument table in front of me. It was like looking at Dracula after you had staked him and before he turned to dust. I amazement I asked if I could take it home with me and was told that I could not because it was now “hazardous waste.” Hell I thought it was hazardous before it was waste. I told the dentist and nurse that I was hoping to take it home so I could put it under the pillow for the tooth fairy. The dentist said that he didn’t think that she would give very much for it but I said I thought that it was worth a try. When all was said and done I was given an SIQ chit for two days. SIQ means “sick in quarters” and is basically the Navy’s way of saying “Go home dummy. Follow the doctor’s directions and take care of yourself.” I really only expected one day, but as I started hurting again some tonight I realized that I could not do my 24 hour on call shift tomorrow without making things much worse for me. Following the surgery the site of the now really dead Undead Tooth of Terror was packed with gauze to soak up the blood. I ended up changing the gauze three times before the site stopped bleeding.
When I got home I realized that I had forgotten to drop off a prescription for more Vicodin so I had to drive back and drop it off at our pharmacy. Thankfully traffic was light and I got there and back pretty quick and will get the prescription tomorrow as the line was huge and I was in no condition to wait an hour to get it as I had a couple left. Once I was home I fell asleep for about 3 hours. I got up, had a light dinner and took it easy. The pain started back up about 9 PM and so I took my meds and am getting ready to go to bed. I expect that I should sleep well for the first time tonight. The Undead Tooth of Terror is no more but I still bear the scars of my encounter with the beast from the pit of hell. Patently the Deity Herself was with me through this and will take care of me tonight even if I don’t get a visit from the tooth fairy.
Thank you for your prayers encouragement and support. Thanks especially to Judy who threw herself on the proverbial grenade yesterday to drive me home even though she was extremely tired and not feeling that well herself. I have a follow up next week for this procedure and my initial visit for the implant in six weeks.
Peace, Steve+
Filed under healthcare, Loose thoughts and musings, Military
A Trip to the Home World, Tithing on the Speed Limit, a Tooth Joins the Ranks of the Undead and a Giant No Hitter
Yesterday we made a trip back to my family’s home world, also known as Huntington West Virginia. As far as home worlds go it is probably on no one’s top ten lists, probably ranking about as high as Qo’noS, the Klingon home world in terms of places that you would go to on holiday. However it is my family’s ancestral home for the past 200 plus years since coming from Scotland, Ireland and France. Now I was not born in West Virginia, though my parents were born there as were three of my four grandparents. I was actually the first of my generation born outside of the state as my dad was still in the beginning stages of his Navy career and was stationed at Naval Air Station Alameda California and I was born at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in California. Even so Huntington was a place that served as a touchstone for our lives as my dad was transferred from one place to another on the west coast. We would return almost every summer, usually travelling by train in the days before Amtrack. Back then three of four grandparents as well as one set of great grandparents we still alive along with a butt-load of aunts, uncles and cousins. In 4th grade we lived there while my dad found us suitable housing in Long Beach California after being transferred from Washington State. That was the year of three schools and four teachers for me, but I digress.
It was during that year that my great grandfather died and my grandfather was diagnosed with a golf ball sized yet benign brain tumor. It was also the adjustment form the kinder and gentler west coast schools to a much stricter standard in Huntington. I was also as we had come in from Long Beach I was nicknamed “City Slicker” and had to fight for my life. A couple of school yard brawls later which I cannot say that I won but in which I gave good account of myself I was accepted so far as a “City Slicker” could be. The thing was though that I had lived in a town of only about 8,000 inhabitants for 4 years prior to moving to Long beach for just over a month. The kids in Huntington were far more “City Slicker” than little old me. I had poor penmanship because in Kindergarten my teacher took the pencil out of my left hand and stuck it in my right hand. This was of no comfort when my teacher whacked my hand with a steel ruler since my penmanship was so bad. What good this did I have no idea except to maybe set me back two more years. I don’t think I ever left the dining room table due to the amount of homework that she assigned. During my time in Huntington we lived across from the old Fairfield Stadium where the Marshall University football team played. I saw the team work out in the spring practices of 1970, the same team killed in the plane crash on 14 November of that year. We returned to Long Beach that summer where when I started 5th grade I was known as “Kentucky Fried.” Despite that I was happy to get back out west. After my Clinical Pastoral Care Education Residency in Dallas I got my first full time hospital chaplain job at Cabell-Huntington Hospital which I held as a full time contractor until I was mobilized for the Bosnia mission in 1996. During this time and while I was deployed Judy got to know my relatives better than me. I went into the Navy in West Virginia and due to this we remain West Virginia residents for Tax and Voting purposes. We came back to get our driver’s licenses renewed and see our dear friend Patty.
The visit this time has been pretty miserable for me as last night the tooth which was recently excavated for the second time as discovered to be cracked beyond repair decided to come back from the dead. I didn’t get to sleep until about 0230 and woke up again at 0415 before getting back to sleep at 0600. The alarm rank at 0700 and after getting Judy up, we talked and I went back to bed where I slept until 1230. It took 2 Ultram, 1 800 mg Motrin and a couple of beers with lunch to get the pain under control. Tonight I will probably do the same and go to bed early. In the morning I will have to call the Dental Department at the hospital to see what they want me to do. We don’t travel back until Wednesday and I don’t know if I can take much more of this. It seems to me that my tooth has taken a page from Dracula and joined the ranks of the undead. This really sucks like a Hoover.
The trip here was long, we had the usual snarl on I-64 from Newport News until past Williamsburg, and thankfully the HRBT was not congested. We picked up more slow traffic between Staunton and Lexington. Now I am bothered by people who drive slower than the posted speed limit in the fast lane. I trained on the Los Angeles Freeways and the German Autobahn. My view is that the speed limit is a suggestion for the less skilled drivers and those who have trained on high speed roads should be exempt from it. Now I am not a total scofflaw. I do not drive unsafely, weave in and out of traffic or fail to signal. Likewise I know about how fast I can go without drawing the attention of the State Police. Since radar detectors are illegal in Virginia one has to become very adept at this cat and mouse game and I am amazed at the number of people who get pulled over because they don’t understand the simple art of nuance. In most states you can safely drive about 10 percent over the speed limit on the Interstate without getting ticketed. This is a little different on the major travel holidays in Virginia where there is about a 5 mph tolerance. I do this routinely and refer to it as “tithing” on the speed limit. Of course there are times that I need to give more than my tithe and go a bit faster. Our GPS “Lilith” has a conscious about such things and would alarm when I did this forcing me to silence her.
There was also cause for rejoicing as the first half of the baseball season came to an end. The Norfolk Tides are tied for fist in the International League South, the San Francisco Giants have surprised everyone by playing great ball with solid pitching and now are in second place in the National League West and currently have the 3rd best record in the league behind the Evil Dodgers and one percentage point behind the East leading Phillies. To really make things great Giants pitcher Jonathan Sanchez pitched a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres. It was almost a perfect game save for a booted ground ball and error by Giants Third Baseman Juan Uribe with 1 out in the bottom of the 8th and Center Fielder Aaron Rowland saved the no-hitter with a leaping catch at the wall for the second out in the top of the ninth. Both of these show that even when a pitcher pitches a no-hitter it is a team effort. I had seen the next to last Giant no-hitter in person with my dad and brother back on August 24th 1975 when Ed Halicki shut down the New York Mets at Candlestick. Not a bad way for the Giants to go into the All-Star break.
Anyway it is time to self medicate for the night and try to get some sleep. Pray for me a sinner.
Peace, Steve
Filed under Baseball, healthcare, Loose thoughts and musings, star trek, travel
Pondering the Imponderables of National Security Leaks and Condiments
There are times when try as we might the deepest secrets of national security are made know. Such was the case last week when the wife of Britain’s MI-16 spy service posted photos of the reclusive spymaster in his Speedo on a beach on her Facebook.com page. Needless to say it is not good when every potential and enemy sees their enemy in such a revealing garment which most men who are not young good looking world class swimmers should never be seen in public in. So the dear wife of the British spymaster has blown his cover in a big way. Now Al Qaida will be staking out Brighton Beach or the French Riviera for a chance to schwack him, or at least give him an atomic wedgie as they no longer need simply to see his face but now know what the rest of his body looks like.
Unfortunately there was a security breach in Padre Steve’s household as the Abby Normal Abbess aka “Judy the Snitch” revealed something that the government has been concealing from you for many years. Of course she could not help herself in being a snitch since she was the youngest child in her family, save her Pug Susie. Since the damage to yours and mine national security cannot be undone now that she has posted for the world to see, I am posting the link to her article in hopes that the knowledge of the leak and the official explanation from Padre Steve will defuse this crisis. The link is here:
http://abbeynormalabbess.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/steve-ketchup-and-national-security/
Now the official explanation: Catsup packets and other condiments are indeed to reserve currency in case of a meltdown in the world economy. Since many in the world are fearful of a worst case scenarios like the Great Depression or the hyper-inflation period of the Weimar Republic the world leaders decided that condiment packets that are found in fast food restaurants from Atlanta to Zagreb would do in a pinch. Now this has not been announced anywhere and will not be officially as it could cause a rush on catsup futures which would further destabilize the already fragile world economy as McDonalds, Burger King and other fast food giants would be forced to close stores and lay off employees to find the money to keep the catsup bins stocked.
For those that don’t know the Germans have ascribed a monetary value to catsup and other condiment packets. Back in the old days if you went to a fast food place or an Imbiss (a little snack bar often found in small towns) you would pay 5 pfennings for a packet of catsup. Today with the advent of the Euro the last time I was there they cost 10 Euro Cents, which is about 14-15 US cents at recent exchange rates. Some US fast food franchises now charge for more than the two or three packets that they might normally give you. I found this out when I looked in the bag with my “to go” order and seeing that there were not enough to have extra to add to my stockpile, I asked for more and was told that it would be an additional charge. Knowing what I know I paid for the extra. Many fast food restaurants now have copied what Wendy’s has done for many years and instead of giving you packets of catsup as a “dine-in” customer now supply a pumping station to the catsup tank located below the store, which a couple of times month a tanker truck filled with catsup pulls up to about 0300, or 3 AM and fills up the secret tank. This is one reason McDonalds is replacing its older buildings, it is cheaper to build a new building with the tank than renovate. It also provides them cover of plausible deniability should people ask when the parking lot is ripped up and a tank is being installed. These catsup tankers are unmarked for the reason that the restaurants and the government do not want you to know what is really going on. Most of these are owned by the Heinz conglomerate whose owner; Teresa Heinz Kerry is married to a member of the US Senate and former Presidential candidate, Senator John Kerry. By doing this the government and the restaurants are allowing themselves to stockpile catsup packets for the coming time when they will be needed.
Now you probably wonder how you can verify what I am saying. If you have a friend or family member in the military or employed by a Federal or State law enforcement agency and visit their home or ride in their car, look for their secret stash. After reading what Judy wrote on her blog, Judy’s cousin Diana recalled a visit to her daughter Becki who is a senior Law Enforcement official in a Federal Government agency with an astronomically high security clearance. Becki also has a drawer full of catsup and other condiment packets. The light went on for Diana and she knew that indeed that Judy had unearthed a dark secret.
I’m sure that this post will also give the Bible prophecy addicts something new to ponder in relationship to the scriptures which talk about in the end times a bar of gold will buy a loaf of bread and stuff like that. It is likely now that this is out there that books like The Late Great Planet Earth and parts of The Left Behind series will have to be re-written.
Additionally survivalists and militia movement members who have long suspected a government conspiracy will begin to stockpile catsup packets and begin to hijack restaurant re-supply trucks to make off with cases of catsup and other condiments and even Al Qaida my start targeting Heinz, Hunts and Del Monte catsup plants around the country seeking yet another way to undermine US and world economic security.
So that’s the story. There will be a cover up of course as there always are, when asked government spokesmen and women will claim ignorance or deny the story altogether. But now you know the dirty little secret. As we know from Agents Scully and Mulder in the X-Files the truth is out there.
Peace, Steve+
Note: I gave a bad title to a post a couple of days ago. It is the “Visit to Super Holy International Temple.” It is quite funny and quite profound in its own way and I hope that you look it up if you din’t think that the title sounded too interesting. I was told by a reader that it reminded him of the book “The Shack” which I have never read.
The Inglorius Padre Steve's World 